A Heart at Stake
by I M Sterling
Summary: Emily Bennett accidentally drags Elena back to 1864 when Katherine asks her to acquire the witchy necklace. Delena. I know there are a million of these out there, but I wanted to write it anyway, and I decided I might as well share it!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: I've italicized the name of the character when I change POV. I've actually finished the entire story, but I'm posting chapters as I finish editing them. Expect somewhere around 10 chapters posted over five days or so. (That might change depending on the number of reviews I get….lol) **

**Chapter One:**

_Elena:_

Elena toyed with the necklace as she brushed her hair, deciding if she wanted to wear it or carry it with her. Her fingers caressed it. It represented some of the best moments in her life. A love that she'd thought she would have forever. The necklace was a symbol of the bond she felt with Stephan.

She still loved him. Even though he'd done horrible things to her…she still loved him. The problem was that she loved someone else, and if she let it, Damon's love was going to consume her completely. She didn't know if she was ready for that…but she did know that she couldn't allow the sweet puppy love she felt for Stephan stop her. Using Stephan's love to avoid exploring this thing with Damon was selfish.

She wasn't sure what she needed to do about Damon…but she knew it was time to let Stephan go. She put the necklace on. She'd give it back to him once she finished ripping his heart out. She closed her eyes. Stephan deserved the truth. And so did Damon. But it was going to be hard…really hard…to let him go…to hurt him.

But Damon made her heart sing. Nothing else was really important compared to that. There was no such thing as 'could have' or 'what if'. She was here, in this moment, and she needed to tell Stephan the truth. She picked up the phone to dial when she heard a low noise. She looked around. Funny, it kind of sounded like….chanting. A moment later, the world went dark.

_Elena:_

She woke up in the dark, her head pounding, stomach tied in knots, the taste of blood in her mouth. A sweet voice was in her ear. "Lay back, don't try to move." She followed the advice. Her head was spinning terribly. Another voice, one that was more familiar, sent a chill of dread up her spine as the light in the room increased.

"She looks exactly like me Emily."

Emily Bennett sighed softly. "She's another doppelganger Katherine, like you. She must be your however many times great-granddaughter."

Katherine hissed. "Klaus will…"

Emily smoothed her hand across Elena's forehead. "Klaus is still half a world away with no reason to think there is a living doppelganger. He's in Rome at the Vatican library at the moment." Elena heard Katherine let out a deep breath.

Elena decided to chance opening her eyes. Hopefully, if she threw up she'd hit Katherine instead of Emily.

Katherine's eyes were bright with curiosity, and looked friendly enough, though Elena knew the Katherine's face held few if any clues to understanding her. The things she had done to Damon and Stephan were bad enough…what she'd done to the rest of her vampire 'family' during the 1860s was much worse.

Emily touched the necklace. "I'm so sorry…I used a spell…" Her eyes met Elena's and she nodded. "And it brought me back to 1864?" She tried to sit up and found out she could. The women seemed a bit surprised. "I'm friends with your descendant, Bonnie." A look of pleasant surprise flashed across Emily's features.

Katherine looked poised to ask all kinds of questions about the future, but Emily stilled her. "Knowing the future can change it. This is dangerous."

Katherine shrugged. "All I want to know is if this attempt to nullify Klaus is going to work."

Elena ran a finger along her necklace. "I've met Klaus. He killed me." Katherine raised one perfect eyebrow. "That's rather unexpected…you seem to be alive and walking about."

Elena tried to answer but she choked a bit. Emily raised a glass to her lips. Elena took a drink. "It's complicated."

Emily nodded. "Isn't everything? Katherine, I can send her back, but it's going to take time and energy." Katherine sighed. "And you have little of either to spare what with watching Klaus' every move, and working on…the other spell we discussed." Emily nodded. Katherine turned. "In the meantime, we'll need to do something with my look-a-like." She appraised Elena for a moment and a mischievous look came over her face. "She'll be safer with us, we can't leave her in a shed with all these vampires and werewolves running about…so I suppose I just acquired a twin sister." Elena noticed her mouth hanging open and shut it quickly. "I'm staying with a local family, the Salvatores."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Vervain is also known as Verbena. It's grown in gardens all over the south as a matter of course. **

Chapter Two

_Elena_

This was such a bad idea. Elena knew it. Emily knew it. Even Katherine knew it, but she was enjoying the idea too much to resist. So Elena was sitting in the carriage (driven by Emily's brother, who could be trusted) dressed in one of Katharine's gowns, bumping along to the old Salvatore homestead.

She'd asked last night… "What will you tell them?"

Katherine laughed. "I told them my entire family had perished in Atlanta. I told them I had sisters, I just never mentioned that one was my twin…." Katharine adjusted her hat. "Just keep your head meekly down and pretend you can't recall anything…you'll be fine."

She wasn't anything _like_ fine. She was crazy. She should have stayed in the shed until Emily could send her home. But the temptation to meet Stephan and Damon while they were human was overwhelming. Emily had done her hair in some sort of complicated braided arrangement , nothing like Katherine's fashionable ringlets.

But as Emily handed her out of the carriage, it was obvious that the Salvatore boys noticed the resemblance.

Katherine rushed forward and enveloped her in an enormous hug. "Elena! I thought I'd never see you again." Her eyes were shining with tears as pulled away, taking both of Elena's hands in her own and pulling her toward the gaping Salvatores. She had to hand it to Katherine. She was so good that Elena almost believed her.

"Elena, dear, I want you to meet Mr. Damon Salvatore, and his brother, Mr. Stephan Salvatore. They have been kind enough to offer me a home these past months."

Elena offered her hand first to Damon and then to Stephan and did a little curtsy. It was a good thing she'd seen Gone with the Wind as many times as she had. "Thank you both for looking after my sister."

Damon offered his arm first. "Allow me to escort you inside Miss Elena...or Pardon me, I suppose the elder would be Miss Peirce…" He looked inquiringly at Elena and she found the ability to laugh. "Katherine was born first." Nice not to have to lie about something. Katherine smirked at her and inclined her head, enjoying herself immensely.

From the corner of her eye she watched Stephan offer Katherine his arm. She'd been right before. She was crazy to be doing this.

_Katherine: _

The Salvatore brothers escorted them to what would be Elena's rooms and Katherine shooed them off. She would have thought that watching the brothers ogle two of her would be more fun. Pity. She should have realized that Elena would halve the attention she received from them…but when the founder's day celebration came along, the two of them would be the focus of every eye. It was simply irresistible.

Elena slumped in her chair. Someone needed some classes in deportment. "Sit up straight." Elena sighed and did what she was bid. Funny, they looked exactly alike, but Katherine was quite content that if one had to choose between them, she was the obvious choice. Elena really was a drab little thing under the skin. That was reassuring.

Katherine sighed and walked around the room. She was bored, but she would be expected to spend certain amount of time with her dear sister who was so recently returned to her. Elena slumped in her stays. "This was a bad idea. How in hell did you get them to agree to take me in anyway? Surely Giuseppe Salvatore is on vervain?"

Katherine allowed herself a little laugh. Oh, this child didn't know her at all. "Oh I simply came in last night in a dither, after having one of my friends deliver a message, supposedly from Atlanta, that my sister had been found." She'd played that well. She had rushed in as the men were at their drinks, apologized for barging in, and waived the note she herself had written not moments before. "Mr. Salvatore, I'll never be able to thank you or your family enough for all the kindness you have shown me…but I must leave, now…tonight." The voices protested, and Damon had actually blocked her way. Silly boy. "Miss Katherine, what has upset you so?"

She fluttered her hand in place of her deliberately absent fan. "My sister…they found my sister in Atlanta. She was injured, a blow to the head…I have to go to her!"

Giuseppe had offered to send his carriage for the girl, as Katherine had known he would, and the rest was history. Elena was still eyeing her with suspicion. "That reminds me. I want you to drink this." She handed her a bottle. "It's an elixir that the local witch is selling to the townspeople. I don't want one of the other vampires to question you under compulsion. That would be awkward."

Elena:

Elena sniffed the contents of the bottle. "I'm surprised she's still alive." Katherine snorted. "Yes, dousing the townspeople in vervain is somewhat inconvenient…but there are plenty of solders making their way across the country. I've told my people to do their hunting outside of the town for now."

Elena decided to pass the time until dinner more productively. "This spell Emily is planning…"

Katherine looked at her sharply, then relaxed. "Yes, I suppose that Klaus being out of the way would make your life easier, wouldn't it?"

Elena tried to smile…Killing Klaus was not a good idea. She'd need to talk to Emily…but then maybe not. She had to remember that Emily wasn't her friend Bonnie; she wasn't sure if Emily would be on the side of destroying the vampires, and Elena couldn't have that, not with Damon and Stephan at stake.

She needed more information before she did anything rash. "Will it really kill him or does it just incapacitate him?" Katherine sighed. "There isn't anything that I've found that can actually kill Klaus…but this spell would keep him perfectly still as long as he touched the necklace.

Elena's brows went up. That would work.

"But for that…he'd have to be close enough to touch the necklace."

Katherine laughed without humor. "I've had that same thought myself."

Elena nodded. It wouldn't be long before Katherine decided to use her for Klaus bait. Been there, done that. She'd survive it again if she had to. She sighed to herself and changed the subject. "I guess you should fill me in on 'our' family history…and remember, I've never been to this Atlanta, so I need details…"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

In between them they were able to cobble together enough of a story as they dressed for dinner. Elena was supposedly dealing with head trauma, so it would be easy enough to put her hand to her head and claim fatigue or blurry memories.

Emily was putting the finishing touches on her hair. Elena turned to her and said "Thank you…its lovely."

She beamed with pleasure. Elena turned and directed her question at both of them. "How long do you think it will be before I can go home?"

They exchanged a look. Emily sighed. "I will try to send you back as soon as I am able, but it would be best, for now, if you tried to acclimate yourself to this life for a time."

Elena pressed the subject. "How much time? Days? Weeks? Months?" She wouldn't mention years, years was just absolutely unacceptable.

Katherine placed Elena's hand in the crook of her arm like they were best friends in some Austin novel. "For now, the kind and handsome Salvatore brothers are waiting to escort us to dinner. We shouldn't keep them waiting." Then, with an impish smile, she led the way.

They were waiting at the bottom of the staircase, both in evening dress, both heartbreakingly handsome. Katherine shot Elena a smug look and whispered "Have you ever seen anything more delicious?" Elena didn't miss the pun, but even as she smiled for Katherine's benefit, she knew it didn't quite reach her eyes. She'd meet these men in 145 years…and neither of them would recover from what Katherine did to them, was doing to them, right now.

Damon offered his arm to Katherine this time and Elena had to ruthlessly beat down her jealousy. He looked at her like she was the ocean and he wanted nothing more than to drown in it.

Stephan offered her his arm and she took it lightly. "Thank you, Mr. Salvatore." Coming here had been a mistake. She knew she couldn't change the past (anymore than she already had); but every time she thought about the way Katherine had left them to pine for her for a century and a half her fingers itched to drive a stake in Katherine's heart, and then send her body COD to Klaus… She was stranded in the past, and her only way back was through Emily…who owed a blood debt to Katherine.

Stephan (She needed to try to think of him as Mr. Salvatore, before she blew her cover completely), Mr. Salvatore glanced at her and flashed his best smile. "Are you well tonight, Miss Elena?" She smiled at the ground. "I am." She was lying through her teeth. "And how are you this evening?"

He shot Damon and Katherine a look before he returned his attention to her. "I am honored to be your escort tonight. The entire town is in awe that the most beautiful woman they had ever seen has an identical twin sister." She knew her smile was sad. His face took on a sympathetic air, the one she was so familiar with. "Losing one's entire family must be quite a blow, even without the head injury."

She drew on her memories of her parent's funeral and she knew he could see the raw emotion in her eyes. "It's very fresh to me Mr. Salvatore. I didn't even remember I had a sister until a few days ago." Katherine shot her a warning look, but neither Stephan nor Damon noticed. They both stared at her with empathy-filled eyes. It was strange. Stephan was much the same…but Damon, she could read Damon so much more easily here. She felt her heart contract a little as she really understood how much the years had changed him, how much pain he'd gone through since he became a vampire.

_Katherine: _

She made sure she was especially charming at dinner that evening. Elena was terribly boring, but the cover story Katherine had given her was exciting (she couldn't help herself), so Elena did take a rather large share of the attention at dinner.

She could tell that old Giuseppe was charmed by having two such lovely sisters living under his roof, though she very much doubted that he intended both of his sons to marry penniless orphans. And that was where it would have been headed, if she had been what she pretended to be. She would choose one Salvatore and her sister would have the other.

But she was not what she pretended to be, and she had no intention of sharing the brothers, not even with her doppelganger. Once the threat of Klaus was eliminated once and for all, she intended to turn them both, marry one, and lead Mystic Falls society until she faked their deaths in a few years and moved on to the next town. It wouldn't be the first time she'd played that card.

The arrival of her doppelganger was hardly a hiccup in the plan. And, if something happened and she failed to eliminate Klaus…well, a living doppelganger was what he needed for his spell after all…perhaps he would give up his vengeance in trade for her and the moonstone that bound the curse.

Something in Katherine recoiled from that idea. Part of it was that she didn't want Klaus to get what he wanted. And who knew…if Klaus were eliminated and for some reason Emily couldn't get the doppelganger back to her own time, Katherine could turn her. It might be fun to have another version of herself around.

A whispered word at dinner was enough for Damon to be waiting in her room once Elena was safely tucked away for the night. She allowed herself a moment to melt into his passionate kisses and clear away every worry she had in her mind. One of the reasons it was impossible to choose a Salvatore…Damon shared a certain character flaw with Katherine. Once his heart was made up, decided as to where it would belong, there was not high or low, no line he wouldn't cross. He was naive, but impetuous and so ready to learn every trick she'd picked up over the centuries…and she had every intention of teaching him. Stephan's brand of sweet devotion was equally addictive, but for practical matters, like blood donation and feeding those other urges that threatened to overwhelm a vampire, Damon was the brother she needed.

She lapped up the final drops from the small wound in his upper thigh and then moved up to cuddle him contentedly. Adoration was like air to Katherine and Damon was her surest source here in Mystic Falls.

He wrapped his pale arms around her and kissed the top of her head. She nearly purred. Damon was hers…next she had to snag Stephan, and then…

Damon interrupted her self-satisfied plotting. "You never mentioned your sister…is she…like you?" Katherine wasn't sure she appreciated him even thinking about another woman while they were still sweaty and entangled from some fairly spectacular (even by her standards) sex. But then, he was probably thinking more about the vampire issue. She still had to work to make her face flirtatious. "Not yet. And she doesn't know that you know…or about…this." She ran her fingers up his chest to tease him then allowed them to move slowly down to his belly…finally cupping him and feeling the changing texture as he responded.

She laughed. "No more tonight love. I need to be wide awake and doe-eyed tomorrow so I can spend time with my dear sister." He wasn't in on the joke, but he noticed the tone as he obediently pulled on his pants and threw his shirt on. He leaned down for another kiss and she deliberately ran a finger along the ridge in his pants, laughing as it jumped under her hand. " He gasped and caught her hand. She allowed him to press a fervent kiss to it. "Why are you so cruel?" She grinned at him as she rose from the bed, nude. She pressed a gentile kiss to his lips and said 'Because, it's in my nature."

_Elena:_

Her room was just down the hall from Katherine's, and she wasn't surprised when she heard a quiet footstep on the landing, and then the near silent sound of Damon's door closing. The pain she felt when she heard that soft footstep was acute. Damon. Katherine was going to end both of their lives…she was going to hurt both brothers. But her love destroyed Damon.

Oh, a small part of what she felt was jealousy…She felt like she was invisible when she was in the room with Katherine…like the dresses and corsets (and most of all the great big fat LIE she was living) was sucking all the joy out of her body, as if there was magic in assuming the surname Pierce…as if by denying that she was Elena Gilbert, that she was no longer Elena Gilbert.

She rolled over in her bed and beat the feather pillow for a moment. Then she came to a decision. She was here. Her very presence had already changed everything. Trying 'not' to change things wasn't really an option at this point. If things didn't play out exactly as they had…her time wouldn't exist as it had been.

But thinking of the men laying down the hall from her, thinking about all the pain and guilt that lay in their future…she couldn't help but wonder…what if Katherine just left them alone? Wouldn't it be better for everyone if they lived out their normal human lives here, in their own time, without the events that ripped their brotherly bond to pieces? It would mean giving them up. She would never meet them. There was a chance she might die in the same car accident that killed her parents. Was she good enough, strong enough to take that risk for them? And if she loved them, why wouldn't she?

She didn't sleep well. Katherine looked radiant in the morning. Elena sighed over the bags under her eyes. She looked like she'd been crying.

As Emily arranged her hair, she decided to go with it. Katherine had cast her as the tragic, delicate sister…and she was feeling a bit tragic and delicate anyway, at least compared with the vampire she was setting herself up to oppose. She was crazy. But she was going to try to stop Katherine. She just didn't really know how yet…but she was here. It wasn't in her nature to just stand aside and let the events fall in the same pattern as before.

She walked down to the garden to join them.

**Author's Note: Ok, so Katherine is getting all the action right now…well, she's Katherine…what did you expect! Lol Don't worry. Delena is coming. ; ) **

**(It will come faster with a few reviews…just thought I'd mention that…) **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

_**Elena: **_

Katherine was sitting in the middle of a little knot garden, with the Salvatore brothers each obviously wishing the other to perdition. Stephan stood to one side speaking softly to Katherine while Damon lounged in the grass. Elena tried not to smile. He was so much himself, even before he was turned, it was hard not to let her gaze linger…hard not to meet his eyes as she walked up, to look for that knowing little smirk.

He hopped up from the grass as she walked up and offered her his arm. She could tell that Katherine was less than pleased that their attention wandered for even the few moments it took to exchange the barest pleasantries.

"Miss Elena, I hope this morning finds you well rested." Stephan had noticed the dark circles under her eyes no doubt. She sighed and bit her lip. "Thank you Mr. Salvatore. I hope you have spent a pleasant morning."

Katherine laughed merrily. "Notice how she skirts the question Stephan." She wrapped her arm around Elena and squeezed her shoulders in a sisterly fashion. "I always said you were born to be a diplomat's wife. " Elena rolled her eyes, and Damon caught the expression. He grinned at her. "Why, Miss Elena, was that a hint of sisterly exasperation?" She knew her eyes lit up when he smiled at her like that and for a moment she felt the strange connection she had always felt with him. Then Stephan swooped in like a white knight and softened Damon's question into something socially acceptable. "What my brother meant to say, is that it is always a pleasure to see two siblings interact with so much affection." Elena ducked her head to hide the smile that was tugging at the corners of her mouth. As if Damon would ever say anything that _bland_. She caught him looking at her out of the corner of his eye, and she let him see the laughter in her eyes.

Katherine had missed that little exchange, thank goodness. She was too busy watching Stephan like a piece of rib-eye. Stephan reminded her more of Jeremy, all sweet innocent adoration, with none of the deep brooding angst that she had assumed was just part of him. He watched Katherine like she was the world…and it was a safe, happy place. Talk about deluded.

Damon was suddenly there, offering them both blooms he'd picked. "Sweets for the sweets." He offered Elena the first, a pale pink rose. There were questions bubbling up from his eyes as he pressed his lips to her hand. She tried not to think that if she succeeded, that it might be the last time she felt his lips. Then he practically set the world on fire with the look he gave Katherine as he pressed the totally inappropriate white flowers into her hand. Elena nearly choked. Stephan had a pasted smile on his face that wouldn't have looked out of place on a laxative commercial. Katherine practically purred under his cerulean gaze.

Stephan cleared his throat. "Well, Miss Katherine, what do plan to do with your sister today?" Katherine looked (very briefly) like she'd bit down on a lemon…but then her flirtatious manner snapped back into place with the speed of well-worn armor. "I was going to show my sister the joys of being entertained by the two young Mr. Salvatores, but if you have other plans…"

Stephan hastened to assure her that he didn't. Damon smirked to see his brother being so blatantly manipulated. Stephan was no match for Katherine. That was obvious. She was going to eat him alive…she would have even if she weren't a centuries old vampire.

Katherine batted her eyelashes at Damon and he fell for it, despite the fact that he'd just been mocking his brother for the same thing. "The truth is, I want to go for a ride, but Elena has never been much of an equestrian. " Shows what Katherine knew, Elena had a double handful of blue ribbons at home to prove that she was quite capable…of course, with Katherine, that really wasn't the point. "Damon, would you mind showing Elena the library? Stephan already arranged to ride with me, and I would hate for poor Elena to be bereft of all company…" Annnnd, he fell for it like a load of bricks.

She took Damon's arm and held on tighter as she watched Stephan and Katherine ride away. Was this the time to warn him? What could she say when he was already this far gone?

Damon was lost in his own thoughts as he watched his lover and his brother ride away. Great. She was watching the seeds of a 145 yr old spat being sown right in front of her, and there wasn't anything she could think of to do to stop it…

Damon came back to himself and noticed her holding on to his arm for dear life. "Are you well Miss Elena?" Funny how people kept asking her that here. "Well enough Mr. Salvatore." She let a bit of her worry cross her face. Maybe he would ask…

But Damon simply led her toward the library. "Are you a reader Miss Elena?" She nodded absently as she found old favorites among the Salvatore's collection of books. She could feel Damon's eyes on her, but she didn't turn. She waited to see what this Damon, the human Damon might eventually do.

"Your sister seems quite fond of you." She let that one pass, that was one can of worms she wasn't about to open. Instead, she smiled at him. "I can tell you and your brother are very close." Of course they wouldn't be, once Katherine got done with them. Damon smiled fondly out of the window. "Stephan." The word was laughing response. "Little brother and my best friend since the day he was born." He turned and grinned. "But you'd know all about that…with a twin."

She was going to have to lie if she didn't do something quickly. "I was actually closest to my brother, Jeremy." She faltered on his name. Jeremy was a Gilbert, pure bred. What would happen to her brother if she managed to change the stars for the Salvatores? Her pain must have been clear on her face. Damon took two quick steps and pulled her into an embrace. "I am sorry Miss Pierce. So sorry for your loss." Feeling what she was losing, wishing she could close the gap between them, her eyes filled with tears, and she was glad. Real tears of pain and loss…maybe they would compare with the shower of fake tears that Katherine had so obviously cried.

He offered her a handkerchief and pressed a small glass of sherry into her hand. She took a small sip, but the stuff was awful. She made a face and he laughed. "I'm sorry Miss Pierce…" She couldn't stand it. She couldn't stand for him to call her that again. "Please" she sniffed… "Please, if you would call me Elena…?"

His mouth pulled up in the same one sided grin he'd always had, but there was little trace of the self-mockery or the bitterness in his smile now. "I will call you Elena, provided that you promise to call me Damon." She dabbed tears away from her face. "Damon."

An hour later they were saddled and ready for their own ride. Damon's grin held a bit of a smirk as Elena sat in a pair of Stephan's old pants that he'd filched for her from his brother's room. She grinned back at him. "I don't know how anyone rides sidesaddle, to tell the truth." She knew there was mischief in her eyes when she wheeled the horse around and took off. Damon's surprised laughter followed her. She didn't know the grounds, but her horse did. She let him have his head and Damon managed to ride at her knee. As they crested a hill, she pulled her mount up, and patted his neck, whispering baby nonsense to him.

Damon's skin was flushed from the ride; his hair was mussed from the wind. She was probably a mess too, but she didn't care. She felt a tiny bit more like Elena Gilbert than she had since she had arrived. She threw back her head and laughed, and Damon looked at her, really looked at her for the first time since they had met in this time.

They walked the horses along the ridge and Damon kept shooting little side-ways glances toward her. After catching is eye for the third time she allowed her mouth to quirk. "What is it?"

Damon seemed embarrassed at being asked. His emotions were so much clearer on his face. She hoped the pain wasn't too clear on her face. Without thinking, he took her hand. "I was just thinking that you are so like your sister…the same infectious laugh when you are happy, same lovely smile…but there are differences too… " He looked confused.

Now was the time…perhaps she could get some warning through to him. "I feel many things that Katherine does not." She looked deep into his eyes, willing him to understand. "Katherine is…selfish." That was an understatement, but she didn't want to break character too badly. She squeezed his hand once and let it go. "She gets what she wants and other people get hurt in the process."

She looked up at him again. "You have been very kind to us, Mr. Salvatore…" She smiled slightly as he protested. "Damon." She allowed her grief to seep through to her face. "Please make sure that you and your brother are not going to pay the price for what she wants this time." The last came out in a whisper. And Damon reached down to cup her face. "Sweet Elena." She somehow didn't think that 'sweet' was really a complement at the moment. "Don't let your heart be troubled." His grin was cocky, she knew that one well. "My brother and I are grown men, well able to see to ourselves."

Sure they were. They were just about to fall for the wicked witch and they didn't have a clue. She was so out of her depth….

Damon noticed the change in her mood. "Are you well?"

The man she loved was about to engage in 145 years of rage and pain and there was nothing she could do about it…because even if she told him the whole story, even if he didn't think she was crazy…he was already in love with Katherine. It hurt. It literally squeezed her heart when she thought of them together. She pressed her hand to her head. "I'm fine…but I think we might have to cut our ride short today."

He lifted her to her saddle without another word.

Emily was waiting for her when they returned. "You look tired Miss Elena."

She nodded as she shed the boy's clothing. "When it's just you and me Emily, please just call me Elena." She missed home. She missed her jeans and tennis shoes, she missed Jeremy. She missed her friends. But she was realizing more and more that she missed _her _Damon. She missed his smirks, his inappropriate comments, his know-it-all attitude, and the way he was always there for her, no matter what.

Now she was the protector, and she couldn't figure a way to keep him off the path he was on.

"Emily?" She was fixing the damage the wind had done the Elena's hair. "Yes, Elena?" She gave her a small smile for remembering. "How long do you really think it will be before you can send me home?"

Emily sighed. "At least a month. I used the power of a full moon to bring you here, I'll need at least that much power to send you back…"

Elena felt her mouth twitch. "Except Katherine has other plans, doesn't she"

Emily nodded once, but didn't speak. Elena pushed forward. "Look, I know Katherine. I mean, I know her in my time, and she and I are not friends, though we occasionally have the same goals." Emily looked like she would really rather not hear this. "The point is, I know that she'd trade me to Klaus in a hot minute if that was the price for her freedom. I know, better than you do, exactly what she's willing to do to stay alive, and the answer isn't pretty."

She'd already warned Damon, she might as well try to protect Bonnie too. "You need to be prepared to get your family away if something goes wrong with Katherine's plans." She raised her eyebrows as Emily took a deep breath. "This is the South…" Elena had forgotten. It wasn't like Emily could just take her family and run.

She held the other woman's arm. "Does Damon know about you?"

Emily nodded once. Elena breathed a sigh of relief. "I think when the moment is right, you'll know you can trust him…but you need to wait until he asks something from you…"

Emily closed her eyes and nodded. Elena felt tears well up in her own eyes and turned away. "I know that my being here has changed the future, so just take what I say with a grain of salt." Elena slumped in her corset, allowing the boning to hold all her weight.

A light knock at the door surprised them both, and Emily moved quickly to see who it might be.

Damon stood at the door.

"Emily, is Miss Elena feeling better?"

Emily turned and stole a glance at Elena who gave her a half smile. She wasn't feeling better. But that didn't mean she didn't want to see Damon.

Emily gestured him into the room and Elena stood.

His eyes examined hers. "You still look tired." She tried to smile. "You'll turn a girl's head with those kinds of complements Mr. Salvatore." She surprised a laugh out of him and she drank it in. He offered her his arm. She took it without asking where they were going. He led her down the stairs.

"Well, your sister specifically asked me to entertain you today…" There was a bit of strain in his voice, most likely he was wondering why Katherine had been gone so long with Stephan. Elena didn't have any problem imagining why.

He suddenly returned his attention to her. "So I thought we might take a stroll around the gardens. You haven't seen most of them yet."

She smiled. "A stroll around the gardens it is." She was determined to enjoy these moments with him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: We get to hear from Damon a little bit in this chapter! **

**Chapter Five**

_Katherine:_

She stretched in the sunlight, her enchanted necklace catching the light, contrasting with her nude body. The wonder and fascination on Stephan's face was flattering. He bent down to kiss her lips again and trace her face with his fingers.

"You are amazing." She was still playing human for him, enjoying the thrill of this first flush of young love. Damon was more experienced, after a year in the army. Stephan was all earnestness and awe… it made a nice change from his brother. And Stephan hadn't mentioned Elena since they'd left her, which was also point in his favor. Stephan kissed the tip of her nose and she fought down her blood lust. He needed to be well and truly caught before he would allow her to feed on him. For some reason, she wanted him willing.

Stephan looked at the sun. "It's getting late. We'll have to return soon." He ran his fingers though his hair and mussed it in a way that she found particularly enticing. It reminded her of her fingers twining in it moments before, under different circumstances of course. Stephan kissed her again, teasing her lips. "I have no idea what I should tell father when he asked what I was about all day…" Katherine smirked. Giuseppe Salvatore would not be pleased to hear his 'perfect' son, the good one, had spent the day making love to his erstwhile house guest. It just wasn't _done_. She sighed internally. The next time she set up an identity, she was going to set up her own household. Playing the dutiful houseguest had been amusing for the first few weeks, but she was growing tired of living up to expectations….the entire point of being a vampire was that the rules didn't apply to her.

Then again, this time the ploy had been worth it. She stroked Stephan's face and kissed him again.

Music filled the drawing room as Katherine and Stephan entered the house. Damon was at the piano singing while Elena watched from behind. "Come now Elena, surely you know the words to this one!" Elena blushed and shook her head. "And even if I did, I've already told you, I can't sing." He laughed and sang it himself.

Katherine rolled her eyes. What were they teaching young ladies in the future? Next she'd say she couldn't play piano or do watercolors!

Giuseppe walked by and greeted Katherine with a kiss on the cheek. He did the same to Elena, who looked a bit shocked. The eldest Salvatore laughed. "We have Italian roots my dear, they tend to stick out at the oddest times. " Katherine quickly redirected his attention.

"My dear Mr. Salvatore. How have you been today?"

The older man smiled at her indulgently. She knew he saw her as a showpiece, a pretty thing to be displayed. But since she enjoyed being displayed she never let the attitude bother her. "I spent the day at my work, unlike my sons, who have undoubtedly spent their day in a more pleasant pursuit." He smiled, but his glance at Damon held a hint of venom.

Uncharacteristically, Elena spoke up. Damon was sitting rigid at the piano. "I'm afraid that their day was not half so pleasant as yours sir. My sister and I have imposed on your sons frightfully." She gave the older man a little apologetic half-smile.

The older man laughed. "What a charming thing to say my dear, but no…what good are young men if they cannot at least entertain the guests?"

Katherine laughed and took the older man's arm. "Damon, since you are already at the piano, play something amusing, won't you? I feel like dancing." And Katherine quickly turned the eldest Salvatore's mind away from his sons.

_Elena:_

As Damon played, Stephan offered Elena his hand but she shook her head and mumbled something about her head. He shot her a look full of compassion and walked away to eye-stalk Katherine from afar. Elena bit back a small laugh. She'd loved Stephan once, hadn't she? But this Stephan was too naive, too young for her. He was untouched by pain or regret. It was a sobering thought…the fact that so much of what they shared was centered on the shared understanding of pain. She cared for him, yes…but she knew now where her heart truly belonged.

She sneaked a look and noticed the tension in Damon's hands as he played a bit too forcefully. She couldn't help herself. She reached down and squeezed his shoulder. His bright blue eyes looked up at her, surprised. But he seemed to slip into a better mood after that.

At dinner, Katherine was entertaining Stephan and Giuseppe with sparkling conversation when Damon leaned toward her and whispered "Thank you for your concern earlier, but my relationship with my father is a bit…" He raised his brows and let the sentence die away without finishing. She patted his hand without thinking, and he looked at her.

She had a moment to wonder what she'd done wrong (was the hand pat the 1864 equivalent to squeezing his thigh at the dinner table? She couldn't remember.) And then she saw the look Katherine was giving her from further down the table.

Damon saw the look too. He returned to eating his meal in silence. Once Katherine was busy again, Elena caught his eye and said quietly "I'm sorry about that. My relationship with Katherine is a bit…" He laughed quietly and they once again drew the attention of the threesome at the head of the table, but this time they shared another mischievous look after they had turned back to the conversation.

_Damon: _

At first he'd believed Katherine when she said her sister was mealy-mouthed and a bit of a stick in the mud. But less than twenty four hours after meeting her she saw flashes of the same fire that so attracted him to Katherine…but the sister was softer, kinder…compassionate. Traits that he knew that Katherine didn't particularly value. It was no wonder that she treated Elena as a kind of lesser shadow of her more perfect self. He found himself finding subtle ways to protect her from her sister's biting comments …found himself devising ways to coax that light into her eyes, finding ways to make her laugh.

"Damon, please!" She was laughing as he tried to show her another dance. "I can't remember any of these, I'll just embarrass myself!" Katherine smirked from the piano and Elena pretended not to notice how Stephan had spent every second since Giuseppe had retired looking down Katherine's corset.

Damon wasn't certain Katherine had noticed where his brother's eyes had strayed. Katherine caught his eye and laughed, but it drew her attention back to Elena. "You know Elena…there is to be a founder's ball in a week's time…if you cannot remember the dances, you'll be left to your own devices all evening."

Elena sighed heavily. "Couldn't I plead head trauma and avoid the entire thing?" She desperately tried to tell Katherine with her eyes that she did not want to attend this ball. Katherine laughed delightedly. "No you may not! I'm looking forward to showing off my darling sister here in Mystic Falls." She batted her eyes at Damon and Stephan. "That is, of course, if we can find escorts."

Damon muttered something appropriate, but he was going to escort Elena. She needed looking after.

Later that night, he walked quietly to Katherine's door, but Emily met him outside it. "She's not well tonight." He could tell she didn't believe her words, but went back to his own room. He was tiring of sneaking into her bed anyway. The thought shocked him. He looked in the mirror and was disgusted with himself. How quickly his passion for her had cooled! Only last week he had whispered words of forever in her ear…

He poured water into his washstand basin and splashed it on his face. Who was he? He'd been ready to give up everything for Katherine, leave his home, his fortune, his family, just to be with her…now, he didn't really want to be in the same room with her.

Part of that was his certainty that she had seduced Stephan. No one could miss the way the boy's eyes were drawn to her cleavage while she'd played at the piano tonight. And having been her lover, he was familiar with the curve of her lips, and the smoldering looks she could throw at a man while she pretended to be doing something innocent. Only a week ago he'd found those burning looks intoxicating. Watching Stephan fall for them was actually mildly nauseating.

The other part…

_Admit it Damon. _

The other part was Elena.

He'd been blind when he fell into obsession with Katherine. A fool, ready to fall in love to escape what he'd seen in the war…he'd taken her and held on like she was the last thing on Earth.

But then he met Elena…and she was the quiet antithesis of Katherine. She was still fiery under all the sweetness, but while Katherine's fire was her most defining trait, Elena's was her kindness. She had no reason to care about his feelings. (Katherine would prick them just to see his expression change.) But Elena seemed to understand him, know the reason behind every flinch…and she seemed to _care_.

A light knock on the door startled him. Katherine. He sighed and walked reluctantly to the door without bothering with his shirt. "Katherine, I…" But it wasn't Katherine at his door. He wasn't sure how he knew, maybe the set of her shoulders or the tightening of her eyes when he said her sister's name…

"Elena?"

She smiled at him, but there was a deep worry behind it. "Damon, I need to tell you something…but I'm not sure how to begin…"

He moved to let her in the room. "Come in. Wouldn't want father to catch you on the landing this time of night in your nightclothes." Elena blushed and muttered 'No, that's just what I need…"

Damon laughed and then self-consciously threw his shirt on and began to button it. Elena wandered around his room for a moment, and then sat in one of the chairs. Damon finished buttoning the shirt, but didn't bother with anything more. His state of undress didn't seem to worry Elena.

He sat down across from her and met her eyes. "You said you have something to tell me?" His voice was gentile. She took a deep breath. "I know that you know what Katherine is…but do you really understand what Emily is?"

Damon felt his eyes widen. No wonder she was here in the middle of the night…this wasn't the kind of thing one wished to be caught saying aloud during the daytime. He reached forward and patted her hand…it must seem so strange to her. "I know all of this is more than anyone could be expected to encompass Elena, but I'm sure…"

She was shaking her head, and she gave him a little apologetic grin. "If you think this is odd…" She rolled her eyes. "Just wait."

He leaned back in his chair. What on earth could be stranger than what he'd been liven the past few weeks?"

Elena took a deep breath, like a swimmer about to plunge into a cold lake. "The first thing you need to know is that I am not Katherine's sister. I'm her doppelganger from 145 years in the future…Emily brought me here on accident." Damn swallowed. She was right, this was the strangest thing he'd ever heard. Elena fidgeted while he processed that, waiting for him to either accept it or go mad he supposed.

"Let's say that this is possible… why tell me?"

She smiled at him. "Because you are there in 145 years…you and Stephan. I know you…" She faltered a little at the words. His curiosity peaked when she said 'you and Stephan' but didn't add Katherine…perhaps her presence was a given? "I don't want to mess up my timeline…but I can't stand this Damon." She looked at him with her eyes shining with unshed tears. "I can't stand knowing what I know and watching you jump off the cliff anyway…"

She was crying, so he reached forward and dashed the tears off her cheeks with his fingers. He wasn't about to leave her to find a handkerchief. This moment might never come again. She took a deep breath and composed herself. "I don't know what to do."

Damon wrapped his arms around her and pulled her head to his shoulder. "Why?"

Elena sniffed. "You have protected me so many times. I just want to protect you this once…by being here, I'm changing the future…when you and I met, you were in so much pain…"

Damon cocked his head. Pain wasn't something one associated with the vampire lifestyle. She shook her head. "I'm changing everything anyway…so I might as well save you, right?" Her voice was thick with tears. "Save me from what Elena?"

She stared into his eyes. "From Katherine."

**Note: Reviews make my day! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

_Katherine: _

With Emily guarding the door to keep Damon from barging in, Katherine gave herself over to making love to Stephan. His whispered declarations of love melted her cool façade, leaving her more like the girl she had been before she'd met Klaus…before she'd been seduced by one of the local gentry…she allowed the heat of his kiss to steal into her very soul, his fervent words of forever to seep into her heart. How could this be happening? Why him? Why now…?

But there was no denying it. She was in love with Stephan Salvatore.

She let him kiss and caress her as she re-arranged her plans. When she was finished, she decided to take the next steps. Stephan was a bit surprised when she bit him, but a little compulsion took care of that. He moaned in ecstasy as she fed, and he drank from her wrist when she presented it to him. He didn't flinch when she kissed him lightly on the mouth with bloody lips. "There now. That wasn't so bad, was it?" He was panting. She admired his body as she pressed feathery kisses onto his chest. He laughed, just a little too loudly. She giggled as she pressed her fingers to his lips. "The sun will be up in less than hour Stephan…the servants are already rising!"

He grabbed her arms and kissed her possessively, thrusting his tongue into her mouth in the most erotic way imaginable. He broke the kiss and laid a feather-light kiss on her lips as he grinned down at her. "They aren't the only ones rising." She giggled. It was dangerous. The servants would talk. She didn't care as long as he kept kissing her like that.

_Elena:_

She was awake before Emily came in. "Are you unwell Elena?" She shook her head and dutifully ate the bowl of steaming oatmeal on the platter. It didn't taste right, but nothing did here. "Just tired Emily…and homesick. How many days until the full moon?"

Emily smiled to herself. "Six. Just enough time for you to attend the last of the founder's day celebrations." Elena had the impression that Emily found all the founder's day nonsense a bit pretentious. She knew she did.

Elena nodded. "And have you arranged for…your children?" Emily teared up but took a steadying breath. "My brother is ready to take them, if and when we have the opportunity." Elena sighed. "And the spell to remove the threat of Klaus?" Emily pulled out the necklace. "It's ready. All we need to do is bait the trap. Katherine is going to let Klaus find out she is here…in Mystic Falls." Elena's eyes went wide, everything clicking into place.

"That has to be why!"

Emily looked at her like she was losing her mind. "Don't you see, that has to be why she did it!"

"Elena, slow down, why Katherine did what?"

In for a penny, in for a pound.

"Why she let the vampires get caught and faked her own death. Why she left you to face a witch trial, and changed Stephan and Damon and let them believe that she was dead. The plan must have failed, Klaus knew she was here, so she panicked and turned off her humanity to save herself." At best Katherine was operating under a dimmer switch…it wasn't that big of a step to turn it off entirely.

Emily sat down. "Katherine? Katherine deliberately betrayed us?" She said it like she couldn't believe it…Elena had to wonder what Katherine had done in the past to earn everyone's trust. It seemed strange to be around people who didn't expect Katherine to do something horrible every minute.

Elena reached out and touched Emily's arm. "I'm so sorry."

Emily pulled herself together. "And you really think that my spell won't stop Klaus?" Elena shrugged. "I know what happened in my future. The longer I stay here, the more I change the past." She laughed without humor. "There is no way to tell. I have no idea if I'll even be alive in the future I'm going back to."

Emily winced. "Why?"

Elena steeled herself for any possible witchy reaction. "Because I told Damon last night, I didn't tell him everything, but I told him enough. He won't go through the change now, not now that he knows Katherine didn't love him." Emily nodded.

"So no Damon Salvatore means no Elena Gilbert?"

Elena toyed with the necklace. "Stephan saved me first…but Damon saved me more often. I have no idea what I'm going back to, but I couldn't watch her do it again."

_Damon: _

He was outside the door when he heard Emily's comment and Elena's reply. She was destroying the future, the entire future, and her own life to 'save' him. It gave him chills and fired his blood, but he couldn't let her do it. He was standing there, struck dumb, when Stephan came bounding out of his room like an overgrown puppy, grinning from ear to ear.

"Ease dropping?" He grinned when he saw where Damon was. "What would father say?"

Katherine left her own room at that moment. "What would Katherine say?" Damon pressed his fingers to his lips and shushed them both, but he was certain that Emily at least knew they were congregating in the hall.

Stephan offered Katherine his arm and Damon trudged behind them out to the garden, lost in thought.

_Emily: _

Her greatest fear for most of her life was dying at the stake like so many of her sisters. One thing about dealing with vampires: they had a keen survival instinct. But Elena had claimed, nearly the moment she arrived that she was friends with a descendant of Emily's…a girl named Bonnie…who was apparently a powerful witch, judging from Elena's knowledge of witchcraft and her off-hand comments.

Her greatest fear had changed. She had two beautiful children. The town wouldn't hesitate to burn them with her. She had to save them, no matter what if took. She pulled out all her spell books. It would be tricky, but she had to make sure that time followed the same path as before. She had to be sure her children at least, survived.

_Katherine:_

Damon was moping, but she couldn't let that dim her happiness. She was closer than she'd ever been to being really, truly free. Once Klaus was gone, she wouldn't have to hide from vampires anymore…and she'd have an adoring Stephan on her arm for all eternity. Life was defiantly looking up.

Emily was pale under her cocoa skin when she came out to have a word.

"What do you mean, you can't do it?"

Emily's mouth compressed in a thin line. "I mean, Klaus must have found himself another powerful witch…the spell might still work, but the witch would see it coming a mile away." Katherine shrieked in fury and ripped up a small tree in her rage. "Every time I get close to finding a way to be rid of that bastard, he finds a way to survive."

Emily sighed. "Elena did say that he was alive in her time." Katherine's mind went calculating, then discarded the plan. As tempting as it might be to trade the doppelganger for her own safety, she didn't really trust that Klaus would pardon her once he had everything he wanted. After all, by not dying like a good girl she'd foiled his plans once. That wasn't something he'd forgive.

Katherine's good mood evaporated like it had never been.

**Author's Note: Sorry this one is a bit short! But I still love reviews. How do you like where this version of Katherine is going? She sort of showed up and stole the show…**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Ok guys, I'll admit it freely…spelling isn't my forte! I will change **_**Stephan**_** to **_**Stefan**_** after I'm done with the whole thing…for now, please let me know if you see any other obvious mistakes…maybe you could post them in a review or something…lol **

**Chapter Seven**

_Elena:_

She had a fairly good idea what Emily had said to Katherine when she heard the sound of snapping lumber. Katherine returned a few minutes later, and she didn't even pretend to smile. Elena saw Emily return to the house and allowed herself a little sigh of relief. The Katherine she knew might have killed the witch in a fit of pique.

She eyed Katherine warily. Frankly, she was waiting for the other shoe to drop, but Katherine seemed more petulant and pouty than anything else. Her mask slipped several times that afternoon, and she didn't bother to show up for dinner that night, asking Emily to tell the elder Salvatore that she was indisposed.

It was a quiet meal, and Stephan didn't linger. Giuseppe had some sort of engagement (most likely a council meeting to discuss the vampire situation in the town) and Stephan disappeared as soon as he was able.

Damon started toward the piano, but Elena put a hand on his arm. "You don't need to spend the evening playing if you don't want to." He looked relieved to be free of the social obligation. He pulled her toward the settee. Once she was settled, he offered her another sherry, which she refused. "Tell me more Elena."

She smiled. "What do you want to know?"

He looked at her lips but didn't cross the distance. She fought down her irritation. Here there was no previous relationship with Stephan to get in the way, and the two of them still couldn't just melt together. Damon cleared his throat. "Tell me about the future…about your life." She sighed. What could she tell him that might still be true when she returned?

She looked into his blue, blue eyes, knowing that she only had six days remaining with him. When she returned home, he wouldn't be there. He was going to live his life as a human. She cupped his face. "No one should know the future Damon, it only breeds heartache. " She pulled him into a fiery kiss. Here and now all she wanted, all she needed was to feel him in her arms. Anything else was secondary.

_Katherine:_

Pearl was waiting with two young soldiers, pretty boys compelled to stand silent with silly smiles on their faces. They would weigh them down and throw their bodies in the quarry when they finished.

Katherine licked the remaining blood off her fangs. It was good to be really full for once. She didn't think as well on an empty stomach.

Pearl sighed and tied the young man's body to a rock and tossed him in the lake. "I know we've discussed it…"

Katherine nodded. "You are right of course. It is time to move on. I'm already looking for a new town. We should head west again, perhaps back to California…." Pearl nodded absently. "And the Salvatore brothers? What do you plan to do about them?"

Katherine smiled devilishly at her oldest friend. "Plan on them coming with us. Emily has already made their rings." Pearl frowned slightly. It was best to use the promise of the rings to keep the younger vampires under control…but that would be less of a problem if they traveled to the sparsely populated west again. Katherine undoubtedly planned to use other measures to keep them under her thumb.

Pearl smiled. "I'll make arrangements to dispose of the shop and the mixtures that will not travel." Katherine nodded. "I think two weeks will suffice. Warn the others to keep feeding outside the town. No reason to give up the game at this late date."

Emily let her back into the house and helped her out of her dress and into her nightgown. If she were being democratic about things, it was really Damon's turn…Katherine smiled into the mirror. She just wasn't really new fangled democratic kind of a girl.

"Emily, I'll be in Stephan's room tonight." Emily looked down at the floor and sighed. "Yes Miss."

_Elena: _

The pale-lemon sunlight streamed into the room as the sound of Damon's breathing filled her ears. She shivered as he woke and nibbled her neck. "Good morning Miss Gilbert." She turned around and kissed him. "Good morning Mr. Salvatore." She snuggled into his chest. Should she tell him? She'd told him everything else.

"Damon…I'm leaving in five days." She saw the hurt flood his eyes. She closed hers so she wouldn't see. "I have to go back to my own time. I am not supposed to be here."

He smoothed her hair away from her face. "Then you are really not supposed to be doing this." He flicked his tongue out as he kissed her neck, nipping softly before returning to her mouth. She welcomed him with a desperate passion. Five days with Damon. Five days. It wasn't enough. He didn't ask when he saw tears on her cheeks as he made love to her. He just kissed them away, and focused on giving her as much of himself as he could.

Hours later, Emily grinned at Elena. "You stole Damon from her!" She couldn't help but giggle. Elena smirked for a second. Then she sobered. Katherine was dangerous. It would be best if she didn't know. "Did she say anything about me staying indoors this morning?" Emily chuckled. 'She's too busy with her new toy." Elena felt a momentary stab of conscience. She shook it off quickly. Stephan was never as affected by Katherine as Damon had been.

She rushed downstairs and Damon welcomed her into the room with a quick squeeze of his hand. "Miss Elena…" That was somewhat more formal than she'd been hoping for, to tell the truth.

It was then that she noticed the tall, handsome young man standing next to Damon. "Miss Elena, may I introduce Mr. George Lockwood?" Elena smiled slightly and offered her hand tentatively.

"Miss Elena. It is a pleasure." He turned to Damon. "I am not quite sure how you Salvatores have all the luck. We opened our home to an elderly couple from Atlanta, and you get two of the loveliest ladies in the South." His eyes slid over to Elena's to see how she took the complement, but frankly, after years of dealing with Damon she just didn't have it in her to blush.

Damon stepped quickly to her side. "Just in the South? I think you are underestimating our Elena." George laughed heartily.

"Oh Miss Elena, you must be working black magic."

She sooo did not need those accusations floating around town. "Why ever would you say such a thing Mr. Lockwood?"

He clapped Damon on the arm. "Because you have so completely bewitched my friend."

Elena did blush then, and her eyes met Damon's. George's laughter turned to self-satisfied chuckles as the tension in the room exploded.

_Damon: _

George didn't want to leave, he was having too much fun at Damon's expense…but after a few more moments of needling comments Damon was able to push his friend out the door.

Elena cast a troubled eye at Damon. "He wasn't serious about the black magic, was he?"

He let his eyes linger possessively on Elena. "No he just enjoys being obnoxious…he's worse since the war…"Elena snorted. "And even worse around the full moon since he's a werewolf."

Damon felt his jaw drop with an audible pop. Elena raised a brow. "You have no idea how much fun it is to be the one dropping these little information bombs rather than being the one they are dropped on." He reached up to cup her cheek. "Did I do this to you much?" She chuckled. "All the time." She turned her head so he wouldn't see the pain in her eyes.

She looked back a moment later. "You know what I would love to do?" He took her hand and spun her around. "More dancing lessons?" She leaned up and kissed the tip of his nose. "Ha, ha." She put a soft kiss on his lips and whispered "I would love to go back to bed and spend the rest of the day wrapped in your arms." His heart pounded as he dipped her and led her around the room. "There is nothing I would rather do…but the servants gossip. At least if I am giving you dance lessons, I get to hold you in my arms." Elena sighed and pressed close to him. "Then dance with me…"

_Katherine: _

Stephan was sleeping in the shade of an apple tree. She'd fed on him again this afternoon, along with other exertions. She watched him sleep with his head in her lap and she smoothed the hair away from his face.

A quiet footstep in the trees alerted her of the approach of another vampire, but she knew the step. "Miss Katherine." He had been a pretty young man half a century before, and she was glad she'd turned him. He was loyal to a fault. She appreciated that in a man.

She pressed her finger to her lips playfully. "Shush, he's sleeping." John no longer was jealous of her passing flings, but there was something in his eyes when he saw Stephan sleeping in her lap. She would have to watch him around her new love. She'd need to watch all of them around Stephan. Most of the vampires were former lovers, and she actively encouraged some of them in their obsession with her. Frederick and some of the others might be a real danger…

John cleared his throat and continued "I have concluded the business in Atlanta. With ready gold, it wasn't difficult to snatch up the best pieces of property that were cleared in the fires." Katherine smiled as she contemplated the fact that she would now own about a third of downtown Atlanta. If one wanted to live comfortably (and Katherine most certainly did) then one had to strike when the iron was hot when things like plagues and wars decimated an area. Where there was destruction, there was opportunity. John began to fidget in a way she'd hoped he would outgrow as he aged.

"Was there something else?"

He nodded. "As a matter of fact, there was. There was a man from New York, a Pinkerton detective I think. He had a photograph of you. He was asking about you in certain circles. I took the liberty f draining him dry and leaving his body at a pig farm."

Katherine's lips pursed. Klaus was still searching for her then. How had he gotten her picture? She'd only set for a few of them…it must have been one of the rejected prints. Blast and damn. And killing the detective wouldn't help. It just made Klaus more certain she was in an area. "You might have just compelled him, it's best to leave the Pinkertons and the police alone if we can, but you did well John. Don't mention the last bit to the others…just let them know that we've invested their money wisely. Oh, and if you could, there was a rumor of some bodies turning up…look into it won't you, and find out who has been sloppy with their food? " There was a promise of pain in her purring undertone for whichever fool had compromised their cover. John nodded and left as quietly as he'd come.

Katherine absently opened a vein in her wrist and placed it on Stephan's lips. He suckled gently as she made and discarded plans in her head. What she needed was a way she could get away from Klaus forever.

Again, she was tempted to just hand over Elena and the moonstone and then get as far away from him as possible…but she would never forget the scattered bodies of her family, their loyal retainers…people she'd known and loved all her life, destroyed in a fit by Klaus. She'd turned it off then…turned the humanity completely off. There was a part of her, a small, stubborn part, that didn't want to give anyone else to Klaus, not even an annoying, attention stealing doppelganger.

She sighed as she looked down on the human boy who had stolen her heart. She was getting soft…letting her humanity take over. She brushed an errant strand of hair away from his beautiful forehead.

She'd need another plan…

**FYI: There are more Delena scenes on the way, and this is rated M for a reason, so if you are easily offended and/or too young you need to stop reading NOW. **

**BTW (That means , By the Way) Have I mentioned that I don't own the Vampire Diaries in any way form or fashion? Because if I did…well, Damon would spend even more time with his shirt off…lol **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

_Elena: _

Emily was tugging at the ties to the corset while Elena held on for dear life to the bedpost. She muttered to herself as a particularly hard tug nearly pulled her hands from the post. "Now I know why all the furniture was so sturdy back when…"

Emily snorted then got very thoughtful. "Can I ask you a question Elena?"

Elena panted as the other woman tied the corset. "Of course, as long as it doesn't involve me moving for a minute or two…"

Emily smiled. "The war…" She looked in Elena's eyes and asked. "Who wins?"

Elena smiled at her friend, because that's what Emily had become. "The north does. It's pretty miserable in the south for this entire generation. It takes a hundred years, but things get better…ex-slaves will be able to vote…women will be able to too…" Emily raised her brows a little at the thought of voting. "Things do get better. Your descendant, Sheila, was a college professor. And her granddaughter Bonnie is my best friend, and an extremely powerful witch." Emily looked proud as she lifted the dress over Elena's head and slid the silk gown over the layers of petticoats.

"There now. Pretty as a picture."

Katherine was suddenly in the room. "More like pretty as a mirror." She laughed. Her gown was a pale green, which contrasted nicely with Elena's deep rose. Katherine sized her up and nodded to herself. "Have you had time to prepare the spell to send Elena home Emily?" Emily nodded. "Good. She leaves the night after tomorrow, no matter what." Katherine touched the necklace. "If you would, leave the necklace…we'll hide it somewhere that's still standing in your time if we don't get the opportunity to use it on Klaus…" Elena nodded, shocked that it would be this easy…

Katherine grinned with mischief in her eyes. "All right Cinderella, let's go to the ball."

_Damon: _

She was leaving. In two short days. He didn't give a damn about propriety, he held her recklessly close while they waltzed, and refused to let her dance with anyone else. His father would hear about this, people would joke about engagements…if only. His sorrow threatened to overwhelm him as she moved in his arms.

Katherine was holding court in one corner of the ballroom, never letting Stephan out of her sight, but flirting with half the room. Lockwood had tried to horn in on his dance, but Damon had completely ignored his friend, the rules of society, and everything else in the world except the feeling of Elena in his arms.

Katherine was twirling across the room with Stephan, her eyes sparkling in the candlelight. Damon could imagine how the four of them looked on the dance floor…two incredibly beautiful sisters, dancing with their completely smitten suitors. Elena never looked away from him as they danced. He knew what she was doing, he was doing the same thing. Committing her to memory, every line of her body, every word, every sigh…

Lockwood was sniffing around Katherine, Damon hid a smile in Elena's hair. If he could take her from Stephan, he deserved her.

_Elena:_

She and Damon arrived home from the ball before Katherine and Stephan…Elena didn't even bother going to her own room…though it took Damon a long, long time to help her out of the dress.

His lips were like silk, warm, alive…she kissed him like she wanted to devour him, hands ranging everywhere as she stripped away the coat and waistcoat, the neck cloth and shirt and finally, finally was able to feel his body sliding along her own, teasing her, kissing her…driving her mad with every touch. His hands were everywhere, feverishly memorizing her body as she was memorizing his. She was more than ready when he finally entered her, screaming into one of his feather pillows when she couldn't keep it in anymore.

He found his own release just seconds after she did, and he fell on top of her, completely spent, sweaty and languid. She kissed the sweaty curls away from his forehead, and he pushed her hair away from her face to kiss her lips, so softly…her heart actually contracted and she couldn't breathe. How could she leave him? She closed her eyes and tried to focus. She had to do it. She had to go, and leave him here.

"Hey." He kissed her cheeks as he drew her attention back to the here and now. "Where did you go?"

She tried to smile. After all, she was doing this for him.

He rolled them over and pulled the blankets up around her.

She nestled into his arms, and tried to live only in this moment…to commit it perfectly to memory so she would never forget it. He held her, lightly stroking her back. She wanted to spend her remaining hours memorizing his face.

Damon, being Damon, had other plans. His lips found her neck again, kissing and lightly running his teeth along it until she was panting. He shot her that same mischievous grin he'd given her for years. She bit back a moan as his hands wandered over her body, caressing places that were already sensitive from their previous lovemaking.

_Damon: _

Elena gasped as he licked a particularly sensitive spot, her shell-like ear. He deliberately slowed things down between them, taking his time to explore her body more fully than he'd done before, finding all sorts of hidden erogenous zones as he roamed with his mouth and hands. He couldn't think about tomorrow, couldn't take his mind off of the present.

Elena's heated touches were insistent as she caressed him in turn, kissing wherever her lips happened to land, her pink tongue darting out to taste, licking the sweat off his chest in a way that made him shudder.

He wandered all over her body, by the light of a single candle he explored every curve, every tempting hollow. He left the most obvious area mostly alone…a few teasing caresses, one single swipe of the tongue. He'd planned to spend more time there, eventually, but he overestimated Elena's endurance. He caressing her leg and bent down to place a small bite on the soft skin on the bend of her leg (giving him a view that made his entire body twitch) when his doe-eyed lady pulled him into a sitting position and impaled herself on him.

He knew his eyes were wild with the feeling of her, but he just kissed her when her hungry mouth crashed into his. Soon he was too lost in the sensation, and when he felt her pulse around him, he didn't hold back. The learned to breathe again and he lowered her onto the pillows, pressing kisses along her sweaty skin.

She snuggled into his arms. He held her and beat away the thoughts of what the future might hold.

Elena:

1864 needed showers. Baths were all well and good in their place, but when you felt as sticky and sweaty as she did…she would kill for a hot shower…better yet, a hot shower with Damon in it. She smiled to herself, imagining what _her_ Damon would say if he could hear that thought. Something incredibly cocky, no doubt.

Her lover noticed her small smile and must have realized she was thinking of him.

"So tell me…when I was in your time…did we do this a lot?"

Ah…she didn't want to have this conversation with him…

But how could she deny those blue eyes anything?

She had a feeling he wouldn't be happy about it. "I was Stephan's girlfriend when you and I met." Damon's eyes were hooded. She shrugged. "It's a different time…and you are a different man Damon. Hurt. Angry. You lashed out, turned off your humanity…you were so obsessed with Katherine when I first met you…" She looked down sadly.

"But time passed, and it heals." Why not tell him everything? Her Damon wouldn't be there when returned. This was her only chance. "Stephan…he's not a very good vampire…he gets lost in the blood lust, and he hurts people…kills people. He'd been fighting it for years when we met, but after a few months, he fell off the wagon."

She shivered when she thought about the events that led to that night. Damon's hands held her tighter. She kissed his chest because she didn't want to move enough to get to his lips.

"While he was on his little bender you and I became closer. You and I were always friends…we always had this spark…" She reached up and kissed him lightly on the lips. It was worth the effort. "But we never acted on it. Even when I wasn't with Stephan anymore, it always came between us."

Damon's brows lifted just the way she remembered. "You mean the first time you and I…"

She kissed him again. "That was the first time." She shrugged one shoulder. "I knew I loved you, but I couldn't find a way to let you know. And I knew you loved me, but you didn't really ever feel like you were worth loving…which is crazy." She sat up on her knees and looked down at him intently. She caressed his face, wanting to make certain that he understood, that his heart was free to live and love once she left...that he knew how special, how wonderful he was…

"I wouldn't trade anything in the world for these few days with you. I will remember you, this you and the other you, until the day I die." Which might very well be tomorrow. The sun was beginning to rise. She strangled back her tears, and pulled away from him slowly. "I'd better get to my own room before everyone gets up." Damon wrapped his shirt around her and put on his pants.

"I'll walk you there…don't want you to get lost."

**Ok…so I sniffed a little when I wrote this. It's SUCH a Delena scene (more to come). Just two chapters and the Epilogue to go! What did you think? R&R! (Please and Thank you!) **


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry about the wait! My internet was down for most of the last two days, and it completely messed up my self-imposed schedule! **

**Chapter Nine **

_Katherine: _

The deal was simple. The town got all the vampires, all of them…except for Katherine. Lockwood would make sure Katherine was counted among the dead, and Katherine would walk away with everyone thinking she was dead…and she was going to take Stephan with her. George got the moonstone (they couldn't do anything with it until the doppelganger was born and he had no clue that it was Elena…) and everyone lived happily ever after…

Well, not her erstwhile vampire family…they got burned in the church. Katherine hadn't been planning to destroy all of them…not until she heard them plotting…

She'd been passing the old barn on the edge of the Salvatore plantation, and she caught the scent of blood. She sighed and sent Stephan on ahead. Fredrick was in the middle, sitting on a bale of hay with handsome young negro man on his lap. John and David were drinking from other slaves, John had a large woman in her mid-fifties, and David was drinking from a slight girl, no older than fifteen. John pulled his mouth away and neatly licked the blood off his mouth before nicking his wrist and feeding the woman his blood to heal her.

"Fredrick! You're going to have to hide another body if you don't watch it." The big vampire shrugged. David took his lips away from the young girl's neck and fed her a couple of drops of his blood. The women were sent away as Frederick drained the remaining life out of the other man.

John had looked at him in disgust. "You have to deal with that by yourself. I am tired of hiding bodies."

Frederick snorted. "All so Miss Katherine can play with her new boy toys." The other men frowned as he grumbled and tried to suck a few more drops out of the dead body. "I can't wait for her to tire of them."

David smirked. "Ethan and Paul are of the same mind. Once she loses interest…and we all know she will…" The other men nodded grimly. They had personal experience with Katherine's particular brand of fickle love. "Well, I think we'll have a bond fire with Stephan Salvatore's name on it." Even John nodded as she walked away.

Katherine seethed for a moment, and then she shrugged. It was a pity of course, but she could make this work to her advantage. It was one of her many gifts.

That incident led to her plan. The only ones she truly regretted were Annabelle and Pearl, but that couldn't be helped. They knew too many of her secrets…if Klaus ever caught them, he'd know too much about her habits. So Pearl and Annabelle would have to take their chances with all the others. If they somehow escaped the town's net, they would never suspect it was Katherine who had planned the entire thing. She might find a way to warn them…if it didn't put Stephan in danger.

Now she just needed to get the doppelganger safely out of the way, compel everyone to forget she was ever here, and set up her new household. Mr. and Mrs. Stephan Salvatore…lovebirds making their way to the new lands in California. The best part was that Stephan hadn't been compelled when he asked her to marry him.

_Elena: _

Emily was setting up the circle. Katherine prowled around, looking like the cat that got into the cream. Damon sat with his arms crossed, his back to the fire. Elena had tried to talk him into staying home, but he given her such a look. She didn't have the heart to make him stay.

"Elena?" She turned and took a deep breath. Damon jumped up. "It's time?"

Emily nodded. He rushed over and took Elena in his arms. She could feel Katherine's eyes burning behind her, but Elena didn't care. She crushed her body into him and drank in his warmth one last time. He placed his hands on either side of her face, capturing her eyes with his blue ones. "Don't go." He whispered it as he stroked her face. "Damn the future, damn the rest of the world…stay here, marry me, and don't go back."

Elena had always thought that the phrase 'broken heart' was just a silly metaphor. When he said those words to her…when he begged her to stay…her heart cracked and shattered like a crystal glass that someone smashed. It didn't break. It splintered into a million tiny pieces, and crumbled into dust. Tears rolled down her face, unnoticed by either of them.

Katherine huffed. "She can't stay here Damon. She'll end up being a sacrifice." His eyes flew to hers and she shrugged. "Long story. She has to go back. It's the only way to keep her safe."

Emily called from the circle. "It doesn't matter either way. She has to go back to restore the balance." Elena wasn't given the opportunity to say another word, she felt herself moving toward the circle. Damn judgy witches! Katherine was holding Damon's arm. Emily was apologizing with her eyes. Elena didn't bother to hide her rage. She would have done the right thing damn it. They could have at least let them have a goodbye.

The fire flared as Emily's chanting reached a new level. Elena found that she could speak. She looked at Damon.

"I love you."

Damon tried to move forward, shouting something, but Katherine held him.

She saw his blue eyes one last time, the fire shot up like it had been doused with lighter fluid, and darkness took her.

**Note: I know this one is short, but we're almost done. I'll post Chapter Ten ASAP! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Here's the last bit! Hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter Ten**

She could feel the sunlight on her face. It was warm. The memories came flooding back. She didn't want to open her eyes. She felt like spun glass, the sort of thing you didn't dare touch because you knew it would break if you did.

"Morning sleepyhead."

That voice. Her heart beat hard, twice. She had to be imagining it. Maybe should could hear it again if she just kept her eyes closed.

"Elena…I know you're awake. _Hello_, vampire hearing."

She knew she looked confused.

"Damon?"

He cocked that same half grin at her, but there was something a little softer than she remembered around his eyes.

"How?"

He shrugged. "Some witchy mojo from Emily apparently."

He held her necklace. "I went to the old estate this morning and found this. I've been having dreams about it for days… When I touched it, everything came back."

Her breath stopped. He waggled his brows at her. "Oh yeah, every…single…thing." She felt her breath catch in her chest, she reached for him, and then he was there with her, kissing her silly. Elena eventually had to come up for air.

"I'm completely lost.."

He rolled over on his stomach and grinned at her. "Ah…all is right with the world when I am the one dropping the information bombs on you." He kissed the tip of her nose.

"Damon!"

"All right, miss impatience. Where to begin." He rearranged them so she was lying with her head on his chest and he gave a little sigh of relief. "That's better. After you left, Katherine did basically what you said she was planning to do, with a couple of little twists. Emily spelled me and Stephan so that we would remember only Katherine and nothing about her sister…she merged the memories." He rolled his eyes. "Which of course meant that I spent 145 years searching for Katherine…and why her betrayal hurt so much."

Elena's brow creased. "What about me…and Stephan?" Damon frowned. "That all went down the way you remembered it. I have no clue what's going on there since I only regained my memories today…and I sure as hell didn't run to check on my brother first." He kissed her again. "But I can tell you that you are the bravest," he paused to kiss her slowly. "kindest." Another lingering kiss. "most aggravating woman I've ever known."

She closed her eyes. She was so glad he was here, but in a sick, twisted way, she was the cause of all that torment, everything she'd been trying to prevent. He ran a thumb across her lips. "I know that look. That's the patented 'Elena is feeling guilty for something that is not her fault' look." She couldn't smile…not yet. It was all so much to take in.

A voice they both knew very well intruded. "Well, I can probably fill in some of the blanks." An incredibly smug-looking Katherine sauntered into the room.

Damon moved slightly in front of Elena. Katherine chuckled. "Don't be silly Damon. I've gone to a lot of trouble to protect her all these years."

"Don't lie Katherine."

She huffed and rolled her eyes. "Who got Emily to send her back? Who told you that Elena was the doppelganger? Who warned you to protect her? It was all my plan…and my plans, unlike other people's plans, have a marked tendency to work. I used every hint Elena gave me about the future, all of Emily's abilities, and I found a way that made everyone who needed to forget about her forget until the time was right, and the problem with Klaus was over. " She picked up the necklace for a moment. "In fact, you could say I'm the hero of this piece." Katherine gave them the same 'ol impish smile.

"I made sure Caroline was a vampire so she could snare the interest of everyone's favorite psychotic hybrid…Sorry Elena, I compelled Damon after you left, and I knew she was just his type… I imagine they're honeymooning in Paris…it's a good thing Klaus is wealthy, because I've never seen anyone shop like Caroline." She laughed lightly, and it still chilled Elena, just a bit. Katherine was still very, very dangerous.

Katherine just smirked. "Never mind keeping an eye on you and Stephan over the years…even putting off being with Stephan until after Elena took her little trip in time…I knew what I had to do as soon as I realized what she was." She pouted a little. "Ok, so I fell off the wagon once or twice…and I admit I was a little jealous when I actually saw Stefan with her…" She shrugged and excused herself from several terrible acts, including making Elena's Aunt stab herself. Typical Katherine.

"So all's well that ends well. Pearl was able to get out of town with Anna, you are so obviously with Damon." She smirked at them. "And I will retrieve Stefan." She grinned at them. "I never got to marry him you know, and he asked me ages ago. I'll get Carolyn to help with the wedding…Elena, you won't mind being a bridesmaid, right?" Elena choked back something that might have been a shocked laugh. Katherine was gone.

Damon rolled so that he had better access to her mouth. She stopped him for a second.

"Don't you think we should call Stephan and warn him?" Damon smiled down at her. "No…I think little brother is getting all his memories back. He's always insisted that everything he felt for Katherine was the result of compulsion. He's going to have to deal with everything that was real…"

She traced his face. "So your father…"

Damon shook his head. "No, Katherine changed that…" His eyes rolled. "George Lockwood shot both of us, then left our bodies at the quarry for Emily to find." He snorted. "Knowing George, he enjoyed that a bit more than he should have. Our father lived till his mid-nineties, and he had another family. Emily faked her death, and met up with her kids. They moved out west for a few generations, but by 1900 the Bennetts were back in town."

Elena smiled absently.

Damon licked her neck lovingly. Elena groaned a little and Damon shushed her. "Your Aunt is going to hear you…"

Elena's eyes widened. "Jenna?"

Damon cocked his head. "Do you have another Aunt?"

Elena shook her head, unwilling to go into the whole thing. "So let me get this straight. Klaus is gone."

Damon nodded.

"Did we lose anyone?"

Damon shook his head. "What do you mean?"

Elena sighed. "How's Jeremy?" Damon stroked her hair. "He's fine…everything is fine."

She melted into his arms and let herself believe that.

Suddenly he was on top of her. "I do have one bone to pick with you Miss Gilbert."

She dimpled. "Just one?"

She felt his body stir against hers. He ran a hand across her cheekbone as softly. "Just one for now…I'm sure I'll come up with more as I look at my memories. How could you Elena?"

The question was filled with anguish. She cupped his face. "How could I what?"

His eyes bored into hers. "How could you basically sacrifice your entire life? Did you want me to die in the 1800's so you wouldn't have to deal with me?"

Her eyes widened. "Damon! NO. I wanted to spare you years of pain and regret. I wanted you to have a human life and a family…all the opportunities that you have tried to give me over and over. I wanted you to be happy."

She willed him to see it. His face relaxed. "How could I be happy without you? Maybe if you had stayed in 1864 we could have had all those things..." His eyes closed for a moment as he fought off a deep regret. "But even if I had gotten every single other thing my heart ever desired, without you by my side to share it, it would have been hollow. "

She felt the tears welling up in her eyes and they traced paths down her cheek, where Damon caught them on his tongue. He kissed her with the salty taste of her tears on his lips, and she drank him in.

He propped himself up on his elbow and smirked. "Ok, I think I do have one other bone to pick with you."

She didn't trust that smile. That smile was _her_ Damon…the sexy beast.

He raised an eyebrow. "Why did you choose _that_ me to sleep with first?" His hands began roaming her body with purpose, and she gasped. "I have so many more tricks up my sleeve now."

Damon:

He remembered every place that made her body arch, every place that made her moan. Waking up with the knowledge had been emotionally exhausting, but oh so seductive. One day they might talk about everything, but for now, he focused on making her scream his name. When she bit him to keep her muffled cries under control, he couldn't help the self-satisfied smirk that plastered itself on his face. She was his…now and forever.

Elena:

Hours later, Elena looked into his eyes with something like wonder…she was ready for him now. She loved him more than anything in the world. She needed _him_. The whole package. If his love totally consumed her…well, what a way to go. After all, it was her heart at stake. She could do anything she wanted to with it.

**Epilogue**

One month later:

"I'm sorry…"

Damon kissed the back of her neck as she brushed her teeth. She'd just smelled the coffee this morning and everything had come up.

His face was softer now. "Elena, stop. There's no reason to be sorry…but I wish you'd figure out what's making you sick every morning."

His words triggered something in her mind…something she should have considered the first time this had happened. Her eyes met his in the mirror as they both put the pieces together.

Damon actually held on to the bathroom wall for support. Elena whispered "1864."

Damon's face was absolutely blank. Elena threw him a worried glance.

"I didn't expect you to be here when I came back…I didn't even think…it was just a week…"

Damon reached up and smoothed her hair. He looked at her with awe in his eyes. "Neither of us were thinking very clearly." He gave her an apologetic half-grin and pulled her close, but he held her like she was made of crystal.

She looked down at her stomach with a kind of awe. Then she looked at him, fire burning in her eyes. "I'm not sorry. I know this changes things…."

Damon laughed. He picked her up, spun her around in her little bathroom and kissed her. "It doesn't change anything Miss Elena." His eyes were alive with laughter. "I asked to marry me a hundred and fifty years ago, it's about time you said yes." He put his hands on her belly. "I can't believe this."

Elena looked at him solemnly. "What?"

Damon nuzzled her neck lovingly. "I can't believe that you are going to have my baby." He pulled her back enough to scowl at her. "And you ARE going to marry me."

Elena laughed and pulled him into a kiss. How could she deny him anything?

"Why yes Mister Salvatore, I think I will marry you." She kissed him lightly and he carried her back to the bed.

As he kissed her neck, a terrible thought occurred to Elena. "Damon?"

He was still focusing on her neck. "Hmmmm?"

"We don't have to make it a double wedding with Stephan and Katherine, do we?"

Damon stared at her for a millisecond and then broke down, laughing so hard that he rolled off her so he wouldn't hurt her. He laughed so hard that he had tears in his eyes when he was finally able to stop.

She brushed to moisture away, and he kissed her lips. "No Elena. Just you and me…forever."

**I had a great time writing this…hope you had a good time reading it! I'm busy working on my next project…more Damon goodness because I have to wait till October for more TVD! BTW…I looooove reviews, they make my day! **


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